Roderique, who also goes by the artist's name of DRACORUBIO is an special effects artist who ventured into creating characters and even worlds beyond most of our imagination. By mixing images with 3D, spcial effects knowledge and refined compositing techniques he creates his very own stories. Today we take you on a ride into his mind: what motivates him and what makes these creations possible.
In this Podcast: Dracorubio
Roderique "Dracorubio" Arisiaman
I'm an image creator and storyteller at heart, no matter what the discipline. My work varies from photography, photo manipulation and illustration to ceramics, sculpture, and painting. I draw inspiration from various sources, such as books, movies, sculptures, music, mythology, fantasy, history, people, nature and whatever else I find on my path.
I used to work in animation and visual effects but found the moving image too complicated to convey my story. My images are always processed to tell a story and to provoke an emotion.
Creative mastermind Roderique is joining us today, discussing whether image manipulation shall be equally included to the term of retouching. Or if compositing artwork and beauty retouching are two completely different beasts to master.
Roderique can draw from a variety of educations and has working experience in fields like 3D, special effects for sills and motion pictures, graphics and design, and of course photography and retouching.
Roderique who also goes by the artist’s name of DRACORUBIO found his way into the creative industry by drawing. As a child, drawing was his passion and his parent’s house is still stuffed with books full of his early artistry steps. Being a child of the 80’s he was heavily influenced by the time’s comics as well. Later on he went on studying at the arts academy in the Netherlands ending with a bachelor of arts degree in 3D and visual effects.
By the time computer technology was just rising and Roderique found his ideas hardly could be resembled like he imagined them to be. So he found himself in a situation lacking the tools needed to create his own art whilst commercially working in the motion graphics industry.
Working in the commercial world can be frustrating over time. Sure there is good money to be made but this often goes hand in hand with less creativity and less freedom to create. For some this can become draining over time. Even more with technology lacking behind the capabilities of your imagination.
“I was simply not creating anymore”
After finding himself unsatisfied with the job he had back then he stopped working in the commercial industry while he got back to mostly for himself. Whilst testing out different media types and processes, at some point, photography came around which until that day was completely off his radar. Learning about photography and exploring the way of early digital photography was fun and got his creative juices again.
Photoshop was an application he already knew but now taking pictures himself there was a whole new world to explore. Processing images, what most people used Photoshop for, was simply not enough, not creative enough.
Working in 3D vs Working With A Camera
Believe it or not, 3D and Photography are not as different as you might think. While working with 3D actually the process of having physical equipment is reassembled quite closely to traditional photography or videography.
Roderique had his click moment when this new medium made sense to him and turned into becoming much more fun.
Having worked in 3D and visual effects, it was not a matter of just taking pictures. Roderique always looks at the possibilities to create with whatever tools he finds himself with. And so, a photo is not just a photo. It never is the final product, just a starting point. Just a piece of the puzzle on the way to create art.
Creativity Can Be Learned And Enforced
“You can’t create all the time!”
Creativity can hit you in a second if you allow it but it also can leave you seemingly to never show up again. For us creatives it therefore is an important task to develop routines to actively set a mood and scene for our creativity to hit. It cannot be forced but you can develop the tool set to make it easier and to fuel your passion.
Cats can be helpful, love, life but also the environment you are working in. Aside from the spiritual and physical things.objects, connections to inspire you letting go of the creative work for a while can also be a good solution. This can release pressure which might have built up and hinders you to be creative.
Another solution might be to set work aside and die deep into learning new skills. This can be either in the field you are working in to get inspired by others or you might just pick up a task completely unrelated wich helps for your mind to wander off.
Roderique’s most recent trick was getting into silicone prosthetics, which at some point, might be useful to create new artwork.
There Are No Excuses To Learn And Grow!
“I had the most basic tools”
Roderique started out learning and exploring photography and retouching with the most basic tools. A rather “unprofessional” micro-four-thirds camera, no lights and flashes but his window at the attic. And from there he learned and grew to the artist he is today.
We often tend to come up for excuses to what gear we need to help us reach our goals without putting in the effort. Dedication to the craft is key to create. Tools can help but you have to put in the time to explore how to make use of them in a creative and artistic way.
